Method and apparatus for custom manufacture of teddy bears

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus that allows a patron to customize and manufacture their own bean bag style stuffed toy. The stuffed toy generally includes a soft stuffed body and head that is generally filled with polyester. The arms and legs of the stuffed animal toy are then filled with a heavier, more rigid “bean” type mix. The mix includes colorful glitter in various shapes and colors. The apparatus supplies the bean mix to the stuffed animal toy and is operated by the patron. The apparatus includes a viewing chamber that swirls the bean mix and glitter thereby providing colorful entertainment while the patron is filling their stuffed toy with the bean mix.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority from Provisional Application No.60/186,922, filed Mar. 3, 2000, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to customized manufacturing ofteddy bears and more particularly, to a customized method ofmanufacturing teddy bears by customers, wherein the teddy bears arestuffed with polyester and a “bean mix.”

[0004] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0005] Teddy bars are popular items. Recently, methods and apparatuseshave been provided wherein patrons or customers may make their own teddybears. Generally, a customer is provided with a cloth “skin” that servesas an outline for the teddy bear. The skin generally includes the arms,legs, head, ears and nose. The eyes are generally already sewn on, aswell as the ears and the tip of the nose.

[0006] The customer will then take the skin of the bear to a machinethat stuffs polyester into the head and body, including the arms andlegs. The bear is then sewn up, combed or groomed, and then often givena “bath” with air to remove dust and any other debris that may be on thebear's skin. As a finishing touch, a ribbon or a bow-type collar mayalso be placed on the teddy bear.

[0007] While the polyester generally provides a soft, yet firm “body”for the teddy bear, it can be difficult to sit the teddy bear in anupright position without extraneous support. Additionally, while thebasic process for making the teddy bear will generally be entertainingfor most children, and even adults, other “special” effects wouldfurther enhance the entertainment value of the manufacturing process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] The present invention provides a teddy bear that includespolyester stuffing in the main body portion and the head, but includesharder, solid particles, generally referred to as “beans,” in the armsand legs for added support.

[0009] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the beansinclude confetti or glitter mixed therein. The confetti is of variousshapes and sizes such as, for example, dots, stars and hearts. Theglitter also preferably consists of various colors.

[0010] The present invention also provides an apparatus for stuffing theteddy bear's arms and legs with the bean mix. The apparatus generallyincludes a supply of bean mix, and a viewing chamber for viewingswirling bean mix that is swirling therein due to air pressure or avacuum. The apparatus preferably includes a foot pedal for activating anair motor or pump that pumps the bean mix within the viewing chamber andalso pumps bean mix from the apparatus through a conduit and into thebear's arms and legs. Additionally, the apparatus may include a supplyof polyester and may pump or feed the polyester into the bear's body,preferably prior to feeding or pumping the bean mix into the bear's armsand legs.

[0011] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, uponactivating the bean feeding apparatus, confetti may be blown about thearea adjacent the bean feeding apparatus and thus “rain” or fall ontothe customer using the machine and other customers in the vicinity, thusproviding an “air show.”

[0012] Other features and advantages of the present invention will beunderstood upon reading and understanding the detailed description ofthe preferred exemplary embodiments, found hereinbelow, in conjunctionwith reference to the drawings, in which like numerals represent likeelements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a right elevation view of a bean mix supply apparatus inaccordance with the present invention;

[0014]FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the bean mix supply apparatusillustrated in FIG. 1;

[0015]FIG. 3 is a schematic illustrating an air supply system for thebean mix supply apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0016]FIG. 4 is a schematic illustrating a bean supply system for thebean mix supply apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

[0017]FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of a teddy bear, and

[0018]FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of bean mix for use inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

[0019]FIG. 5 illustrates a teddy bear 100 in accordance with the presentinvention. The teddy bear includes a head 101, a body 102, two arms 103,104 and two legs 105, 106. Preferably, the head and body are stuffedwith some kind of soft filling, such as, for example, polyester, whilethe arms and legs are preferably filled with harder pellets or granules,commonly referred to in the industry as “beans.” The beans are generallymade of plastic, but may be made of other materials, if desired, thatprovide more weight or support to the arms and legs.

[0020] In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the beans 107 aremixed with glitter, as can be seen in FIG. 6. The glitter is made up ofvarious shapes and preferably, the shapes include, for example, hearts110, stars 111 and dots 112. The glitter is preferably of variouscolors.

[0021] FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a bean mix supplying machine 200. The beanmix supplying machine includes a base portion 201, a mixing chamber 202atop the base portion, and preferably a decorative top portion 203.

[0022] The base portion includes a bean mix hopper 204 that is filledwith the bean mix. The viewing chamber is in communication with the beanhopper, preferably by an air pipe system 210 as illustrated in FIG. 3.An air pump or motor 211 is provided to operate the air system.

[0023] A supply pipe 212 is also in communication with at least one ofthe viewing chamber and the bean hopper. The supply pipe is used toprovide bean mix to the teddy bears.

[0024] A venturi pump 215 is preferably used to move bean mix from thebean hopper into the viewing chamber. An auger (not shown) may be usedto supply bean mix to the bean hopper and even to the viewing chamber.Additionally, an auger-type feed may be used to supply beans to thesupply pipe to fill the teddy bears. Preferably, however, air is used toprovide a quicker and tighter fill of the bears.

[0025] The bean mix may be provided to the bean hopper either locally orfrom a remote location via some type of feed system (not shown).

[0026] Preferably, the bean mix machine includes a pedal 213, preferablyin the shape of a bear foot, for activating the bean mix supply machine.

[0027] Additionally, glitter may be used as confetti and supplied fromeither the bean supply machine or from an external source such that uponactivation of the bean supply machine, confetti “rains” or falls andswirls around onto the customer using the machine and/or others aroundthe machine.

[0028] In accordance with the present invention, the process for makinga custom teddy bear by a customer includes choosing a teddy bear “skin.”The skin includes the primary body, a head attached thereto, two armsattached thereto and two legs attached thereto. Soft stuffing is fedinto the primary body and the head. As noted above, preferably, thestuffing is a soft substance such as, for example, polyester. Thepolyester is preferably blown into the body and head.

[0029] The partially stuffed teddy bear is taken to the bean mix supplymachine and bean mix is fed into the arms and legs. Bean mix swirlsaround in viewing chamber 202, thus providing additional entertainmentfor the user as they feed the bean mix into the teddy bear. Preferably,the beans are fed into the legs and arms after the polyester has beenplaced in the head and body.

[0030] The filled teddy bear is then sewn up and “groomed” by, forexample, combing and fluffing. Preferably, an air bath is also preformedto fluff the fur of the teddy bear and to clean off any dust, stung, andother dirt or debris that may be on the exterior of the teddy bear. Aribbon or collar, or the like, is then preferably placed around the neckof the teddy bear.

[0031] Those skilled in the art will understand that the presentinvention may be used for other stuffed animal toys. Additionally, thoseskilled in the art will understand that the teddy bear may be filledentirely with bean mix, or may have fewer portions filled with bean mix.For example, only the arms or only the legs may be filled with bean mix.Only a single arm or a single leg may be filled if desired.Additionally, the head and/or the body may be filled with beans inaddition to or in place of the arms and legs. Hence, those skilled inthe art will understand there are numerous combinations of parts of thestuffed animal toy that may be filed with bean mix.

[0032] Those skilled in the art will also realize that the bean mixsupply machine may be configured so that it also supplies the polyesterstuffing. For example, the bean mix supply machine may include aseparate hopper or chamber that includes polyester stuffing. A secondsupply pipe would be used to supply polyester stuffing to the teddy bearskin. Preferably, the air system illustrated in the figures would beused to blow the polyester stuffing into the teddy bear.

[0033] Thus, the present invention provides a stuffed animal toy thatincludes at least portions of its body filled with a heavier, more solidmix as opposed to soft stuffing. This provides extra support for thetoy. Additionally, the present invention provides an entertaining andcolorful bean mix, and an entertaining and colorful bean mix supplymachine. Additionally, the present invention provides a method ofcustomizing a stuffed animal toy. The customer is allowed to make theirown stuffed animal toy that is stuffed with beans and/or soft stuffing.Thus, the present invention provides a method and apparatus that allowsa customer to make his own custom bean bag style stuffed toy.

[0034] Although the invention has been described with reference tospecific exemplary embodiments, it will appreciated that it is intendedto cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of custom making a stuffed toy animal bya customer, the method comprising: providing a skin for the stuffed toyanimal; filling at least a portion of the skin with a plurality ofsubstantially hard particles; and sealing the skin to prevent theparticles from falling out.
 2. A method in accordance with claim 1further comprising filling a portion of the skin with a substantiallysoft material.
 3. A method in accordance with claim 2 wherein thesubstantially soft material is placed within the skin prior to thesubstantially hard particles.
 4. A method in accordance with claim 3wherein the skin includes a head, a primary body coupled thereto, twoarms coupled to the primary body and two legs coupled to the primarybody; wherein the head body are filled with substantially soft materialand the arms and legs are filled with substantially hard particles.
 5. Amethod in accordance with claim 4 wherein the substantially hardparticles comprise various shapes and glitter particles.
 6. A method inaccordance with claim 5 wherein substantially hard particles are swirledwithin a viewing chamber of a substantially hard particle supplymachine.
 7. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein thesubstantially hard particles comprise various shapes and glitterparticles.
 8. A method in accordance with claim 7 wherein substantiallyhard particles are swirled within a viewing chamber of a substantiallyhard particle supply machine.
 9. A stuffed animal toy comprising: aprimary body filled with substantially soft material; a head coupled tothe body and filled with substantially soft material; and at least twoappendages filled with a bean mix comprising substantially hardparticles.
 10. A stuffed animal toy in accordance with claim 9 whereinthe toy comprises at least four appendages filled with the bean mixcomprising substantially hard particles.
 11. A stuffed animal toy inaccordance with claim 9 wherein the bean mix further comprises glitterparticles.
 12. A stuffed animal toy in accordance with claim 11 whereinthe glitter particles comprise heart shapes, star shapes and dots.
 13. Abean mix for stuffing at least portions of a stuffed animal toy, the mixcomprising substantially hard particles and glitter particles.
 14. Abean mix in accordance with claim 13 wherein the substantially hardparticles comprise plastic granules.
 15. A bean mix in accordance withclaim 14 wherein the glitter particles comprise heart shapes, starshapes and dots.